BELIEVED for centuries to possess remarkable healing and protective qualities, the neem tree has long been an integral part of daily life in India.
An article published in The Fiji Times on Saturday, April 4, 1992, stated that for more than 2000 years, Indians have used neem for dental care, skin treatment, tonics and as a natural insect repellent.
After two decades of research, scientists from around the world agreed that the tree, often referred to as the “village pharmacy”, had genuine medicinal value. Even cautious researchers were calling the neem “a wonder plant”.
“At least as of today, the vision is certainly an entrancing once,” said Noel D Vietmeyer, neem study director for the United States National Research Council’s board on Science and Technology for International Development at the National Academy of Science in Washington.
“The world should be exploring it,” Mr Vietmeyer said.
“Even if we realise just a fraction of the vision, the benefits will be tremendous. It could provide new resources that are gentle on the land and powerful against many of our insects and diseases.”
Earlier this century, people found a way to get the tree from India to West Africa. In Ghana, the fast-growing tree had become the leading producer of firewood for the densely-populated Accra Plains.
It was a leading candidate for helping halt the southward spread of the Sahara Desert.
In the Caribbean, the broadleaf evergreen which could grow to 27 metres and more than 2.1m in girth, was being used to reforest several denuded nations and had already become a major species in Haiti.
Although it received little publicity, the neem tree had also been looked to as a prevention, a harmless and temporary contraceptive, and a safe insecticide.
“US Department of Agriculture studies have shown that chemicals in neem tree oil give food excellent protection against 131 insect pests, and it shows activity against an additional 70 pests,” said Eugene B. Shultz Jr, who recently chaired an international panel to study the tree. The panel’s conclusions about the tree’s value were reported in the National Academy of Science’s publication, Neem: The tree that might help everyone.
“Neem can become a safe, non-toxic replacement for some of the more toxic and polluting synthetic pesticides on the world market,” Schultz said.
“Its use as an insecticide can’t come fast enough.”
Schultz, a professor of engineering and applied sciences at Washington University in St Louis, noted that a recent World Health Organization study estimated there were about a million pesticide-poisoning incidents reported each year worldwide. Most of the victims were agricultural workers contaminated by certain toxic chemicals in synthetic pesticides.
About 20,000 of them died, according to the study.
Schultz said companies such as W.R. Grace and Co. were already investing in neem technology and had products ready for marketing.
But Vietmeyer said he didn’t understand why the research and development of the neem culture wasn’t getting more support worldwide.
“The most valuable aspect of neem is that it is a tree that can be grown in the back yards of the poorest people in the poorest countries,” Vietmeyer said.
“It’s a chance to give them ways to control pests and diseases in their crops, perhaps control some of their own diseases and even avoid unwanted pregnancies.”
Neem extracts had been used to prevent tooth decay and to prevent and heal inflammation of the gums. It was an active ingredient in toothpastes in Germany and India.
Research showed neem leaves also contained an ingredient that disrupted fungi that produced cancer-causing aflatoxin on moldy peanuts, corn and other foods in storage, said Deepak Bhatnagar, a US Food and Drug Administration researcher in New Orleans.
“I grew up in India, and I can tell you that my people have used neem for centuries to protect grain stored in barrels and for other things,” Bhatnagar said.
“In fact, I use nothing but neem soap myself, I bring back a supply every time I go to visit.”
The Fiji Times article said there may be even more benefits in the future.
It said oil of the neem seed had been effective in reducing the birth rate in laboratory animals, as well as in a human test of 20,000 wives of Indian army officers, Vietmeyer said.
He said the oil was a strong spermicide, and other neem compounds showed early promise as an oral birth control pill for men.
